CITY HALL and LA Times (Field Trip)

It has been 3 days since we arrived this quiet town and also time for us to check-out from DoubleTree by Hilton as we are going to another outskirt area for our next 'adventure'. We do not have any clue how it will be and pretty much clueless on the route that we should take. Nevertheless, we woke up early for our breakfast that morning and was thinking of just wandering around Downtown LA by walking before returning to our hotel by 12pm for late check out. 

construction goin on beside Double Tree hotel, perhaps next year shall revisit and see what is the outcome. nevertheless i like how they build it from wood and not concrete like in Malaysia

true to be told

newspaper anyone?

buddhist temple

its the low way or high way

We started crossing the road and went to the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) building. If you are fan of LAPD drama series, this might spur some excitement in you. I know i am..but nope i didnt encounter any chasing that day. Cops are friendly here. 

Reporters outside of LAPD

chilled morning

And while we were walking in this quiet neighborhood filled with homeless by the street, we came across LA Times. Even though I'm not a journalist/writer/reporter but deep down in me, I've been always the person that love to tell stories especially during bbq night to my younger siblings while growing up. So it was our lucky day as we stepped in, there was a free tour by their PR that morning and open to public..yeay! 

globe at the center of LA times

the chronology of LA times display

yes..this is the actual size of their first typewriter

and the tour begun!

blocks of letters

let's type

what a work of art

heroes!

The friendly PR explained to us the history of LA times, the heroes that died in the search for truth be it during the civil war or commotion/catastrophe etc, the tools, we even visited some of the floors, checked out their working station,  met one of the longest service staff and learned a lot about the world of prints and newspaper. There are times when a simple article print could mean the world to them and how it was convey to the world by putting danger to their life. It's certainly open up my mind on the importance  of spreading the right message to the readers.

some of the antique gadgets used during world war II

i always fancy clear glass display like this

with Mr Doug Smith (longest service editor) Has been serving here for 40 years...40 freaking years!

Working space

The Test Kitchen

this is a cool database archive. they stored most of the clip files down here..

some of you might have seen this!

end of tour..and now as recommended by him, let's visit the CITY HALL level 26 for a bird eye view

bye bye LA times..see you soon!

Next, as recommended by the PR of LA times, we decided to head down to City Hall for a visit and head up to 26th floor (its complimentary for public) for a bird eyed view of Downtown LA.

ready?

Mayor Tom Bradley Room

neat eh?

breezy 

another side of the view from 26th floor

ok i might be standing as a president soon..enna dei..

letter box! ..cool lift design

It was almost checking out time, so we quickly make our last stop at the flea market nearby before heading to DoubleTree and bid goodbye.

nice fruits!

by  the cool fountain

her name is JOJO and she is a post officer..nice warm hug in a cool morning..hahah

be missing the bed and cookies.

ok ready set go, we are heading to an unknown place called Potrero Grande..Sound like a mexican dish. While we are walking with our heavy luggages, we could see few homeless lying under the sun at the park. 

This is their home

Grace has saved the print screen of the map in her mobile. We need to take a bus from the opposite of LA times bus stop. There are so many buses that carries different numbers and colors sign for varies destination. Each time a bus stop, we asked the driver. There are some who dont even know where is the place..so we started to ask the people sitting next to us in the bus..haha

saw the handle bar on the right? disabled can easily reach the handle and pull downward to work as a bell for the next stop.

Gracia or Grace , a friendly grandmother that was so helpful. She helped us by asking around in Mexican language for us to get to our next hotel. Her grandson watching at the back. And they are on the way to a shopping mall nearby so we bid goodbye after that. thank you !

We got lost...along the way. because most of the buses do not take the route. We took a 'joyride' by asking around, even then, we missed some turns and stops which was a blessing in disguise coz we managed to discover few great places to dine in and shop with only $1 dollar! haha..the cons is that our fear level are getting pile up as we discovered many of them are not aware of this hotel..in my head even thinking, is this hotel located in some sort of dessert out of no where or what? Since we missed the stop earlier, we need to take another bus heading back. The last stop apparently was a retail shopping mall for names like Forever 21, H&M etc. We waited for the bus driver to have his lunch before detour, then we noticed that on the way back, it does not follow the same route earlier as it was highway, but from a far, like FINALLY i managed to spot Markland Hotel! so we decided to stop at Dollar Tree where everything sold at $1. By then we already understand the bus route system. Smart! 

saw it!

We bought a lot of stuff all for $1 only! so cheap. bread, tuna and some chips. planning to eat sandwich later for dinner! Then we continue to wait for the bus while eating this yummylicious Haagen Dazs ice cream ($1 each). 

$1 only..so cheap and yummy!

With our luggage by our side, we just reminisce the experience we encountered earlier..and missed our bus! haha ok after this we are on alert mode, so when bus no 68 (orange color sign) arrived, we quickly waved our hands and load our stuff in. We managed to get the bus driver to stop at the right spot. Do not wanna take our chances to miss the turn again or else it will be a repeat case!

ok remember its bus no 68 (ORANGE color!) 

fuh...finally!!

The walk to our hotel was like forever, maybe because we are not familiar with the place or our luggage seems to be getting heavier..:P anyway we are happy that we finally arrived here! phewww..I'm glad my travelling partner is a cool chic that does not mind this kinda mess up..we laughed our lungs out when we finally manage to get here.

Checking in process was ok, not so efficient but bearable. We chuck in our luggage and decided to have our evening walk as it was still bright. 

room is spacious..ok nice. i like the wifi here...muahahah

hitch a hike? 

Anyway I felt safe at this neighborhood. It was peaceful and i kinda like it here..beside that i love to pronounce the street name like a pure mexican..hahaha. We

safe side

pop pop pop away

its halloween season...be prepared to be afraid of the rise of the undead..

the underground walkway that we need to cross..a little dark during the night

laughing pumpkin

party time!

gifts cards are everywhere..preloaded..if this is in Malaysia//you do the assumption on what would happen the minute they hang this up

For dinner, we decided to make our own tuna sandwich. we purchased some salad at the mall and head back to our hotel for a full filling snack. 

i love this chips! so crispy with less salt

tuna mustard sandwich..yummm

Then the rest of the night, we spend our time relaxing with what else--surfing the internet, updating our family via whataspp ..oooohhhh thank god for wifi...haha .orait all for now, wait for our next adventure post soon! 

You may also check out the rest of the post about my LA trip :
1. Ultimate Dream Trip
2. Hollywood Meet the Stars
3. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica